New Life

"Can I touch your arm? You have a lot of bruises and wounds that need to be cleaned," Brenda asked, eyeing the wounds that Gail kept on hiding but because of her new clothes, she couldn't hide her skin anymore. 

Everyone would just hurt you. You are not loveable, they will hurt you eventually.

Gail bit her lower lip. His father's words came to her mind like a broken record. It kept on repeating in her mind as if alarming her. 

Brenda looked kind, an old woman who gave off the sense of a mother. She was smiling, encouraging, someone who looked like wouldn't even hurt a fly, and looked trustworthy. 

Yet, Gail shook her head. She couldn't bring herself to trust anyone. At least not yet. In a world full of cruel people, she could only trust herself. 

Brenda still smiled despite the rejection. She pushed the kit softly to her. "I understand, child. I will just guide you, you really need to clean them so they can heal faster. I won't touch you."

She raised her hands and moved a few steps back. Gail looked at the first aid kit in front of her, consciously reaching for it as she was completely aware that she was being watched. 

There was no need to teach her what to do. She had been doing the cleaning of her wounds on her own for so many years. She just knew what to do and she didn't need help from anyone. 

Or so she believed so. 

"You have fresh wounds on your back, child. I can clean them for you, if you'd let me," Brenda once again offered, worried and hopeful laced with her voice. 

There was new stinging pain on Gail's back, and she knew there were really fresh wounds and bruises there that she couldn't reach. She would just normally let it go and clean it with water once she took a bath, but Brenda looked like she wouldn't let go of her anytime soon. 

Instead of speaking, she pushed back the first aid kit toward her and turned her back, a silent invitation for Brenda to do it. A woman wouldn't probably hurt. She had no problems with women, but she would never let any men touch her again. 

She saw how the woman's face lit up as she immediately moved to her back. "Can you take off your clothes? I will also need to put gauze around your shoulders, too."

Gail once again was hesitant. But later on, she followed. She was only stretching the time that Brenda was with her, so to finish everything as soon as possible, she just followed. 

She took off her clothes and closed her eyes. She was waiting for something, a comment, a reaction, a pity remark from Brenda of what she was seeing on her back. 

Yet, she didn't hear any.

"I'll start dabbing cotton now, alright?" Brenda informed her, more careful, softer, and there was pity. 

Her back carried almost all of the hits that her father had given her. If there were people who would ask, she would just show her back and they would immediately understand what kind of hell she had gone through. 

She inhaled sharply and flinched upon the first touch of the wet cotton on her back. Brenda was careful, dabbing it softly on her back and would whisper apologies whenever she would flinch. 

"I don't know what happened to you but I hope you won't give up on life. You could always start a new life here, Gail," Brenda softly told her. 

Gail wanted to cry again. She could feel her tracing the scars on her back. The deep scars from being hit with a whip, the burn from his father's cigarette, the wounds from the shards of alcoholic bottles thrown at her, the scars whenever she would fall on something sharp. 

Her back bore all the painful tales of her past. She was scared to show them, but with Brenda's careful hands and encouraging smile, she gave up. She would probably be the first and last person she would let do this to her.

However, in the middle of the cleaning, the door suddenly pushed open. Gail and Brenda were surprised as Brenda immediately covered Gail with a blanket. 

Gail squealed and cried, clutching the blanket and covering herself tightly. Whenever there was even a simple violent movement, she was already getting scared. 

Her father would always kick the door open, and it was enough indication that he would hurt her. 

"Sir Michael!" Brenda exclaimed, standing in front of Gail. "You could have knocked! You shocked her!"

Michael frowned, peeking at the crying Gail whose face was once again covered with her hair. "Please, go out."

Gail didn't like men around her, especially not when she was almost naked and around someone who had left an impression as a bad guy to her.

"I apologize. I'm not used to knocking. I barge whenever I want to. This is my house."

Brenda looked at him with displeasure. If there was one person that could counter and scold the one and only stern Michael, it would be Brenda. She was like his mother, and Michael also treated her with respect. 

"Remember that you have to be gentle around this girl. What are you here for?

"I came to say that she's not here to be treated like a princess. I took her in because I want her to work for me in the house," Michael said with pride after realizing why he wanted to take her in.

Of course, she was there to be used. People would never treat her differently. They would always use her just like what her father did. It would be sooner that once she did something wrong, they would also hurt her. Gail thought to herself. 

"At least let her heal first. She can't even move her body properly. She even needed to be hospitalized. I'll train her on everything she needed to learn here once she's alright, Mike."

Michael put his hands in his pocket, watching as Gail flinched every time he would speak. He had seen a lot of people with trauma before, but this girl seemed to have it worse, even a man's voice was scaring her already. 

"Good. I'm just making things clear. I don't want other people to think I brought a woman here because she's beautiful and I like her."

Michael almost sounded defensive, but his tone was still stoic. Brenda looked at him with squinted eyes, not knowing what to say but he was sure that she was thinking of something. 

"Michael, love isn't a weakness," the old woman replied knowingly. She didn't know how many times she had told him that line, and Michael also didn't know how many times he had heard it. 

"It is. If whoever devil is after me, they will use people I love to get me. It might not be a weakness for some, but it is for me," he said seriously. 

His eyes glanced at Gail for a while, but immediately looked away. He wasn't interested in her. She might look pretty and remind him of his family but he would never get involved with her. 

Michael was dealing with a lot of enemies in the industry. He would never let the past repeat again by involving someone, by having someone who could be his weakness. Not again. 

"I don't know when you are going to be brave, or who would make you brave, but I hope you won't be afraid to find the person you would spend the rest of your life with."

Michael didn't listen to Brenda just like always whenever this was the topic. He knew better. They had no idea how serious the threats and assassination attempts were toward him. The best thing he could do to save the people around him was to disassociate himself from them. 

"Maybe I would find that person once everything is settled," he just replied, turning his back since he was done with the purpose of barging there. 

"You can't tell when love will hit you, Mike."

"But I can decide. Anyway, if you need to bring her to the hospital, bring her."

He completely went out and closed the door, leaving Brenda and Gail alone again. Brenda couldn't do anything but just face Gail once again with a soft smile. 

"Sorry about that. Michael may look like a bad, tough guy, but he needed to be like that for a reason. He's kind, cold but careful in his own ways. It just life has been tough on him ever since he was a child."

Gail didn't know why Brenda was telling her that, but nonetheless, she listened. However, no matter how kind he was,she would still never let a man touch her. 

Brenda continued to clean her wounds while still talking about her life in the mansion. She was probably telling her already what kind of life she would have in the future because she might be free from her father, but like Brenda, she would forever serve this man.

"I'll check up on you once in a while, okay? You take a rest now. You had a long day."

Gail was left alone again in her thoughts, just like always. Automatically, her tears started falling again. It had a mix of happiness and bittersweet. 

Happiness that the source of her pain was no longer alive, but bittersweet because even though she was no longer in her father's possession, she was in another. 

Maybe she was never meant to be free at all.

She didn't know what kind of life she would have in this mansion in the

future, but she could only hope for one thing. 

She hoped she could start a new life overcoming her fear.